Domestic refrigerators and freezers are constructed typically with an exterior cabinet shell generally made from metal having an open side into which a plastic liner is assembled. The liner is typically made of plastic and is adapted to fit within and spaced from the exterior cabinet shell. The liner defines the food storage compartments of the refrigerator. Foam-in-place insulation is blown into the space between the liner and exterior cabinet shell. The foam-in-place has an adhesive characteristic which secures the liner and exterior cabinet shell together when the foam-in-place cures. It is common practice to use a breaker strip to interconnect the front faces of the interior liner and the exterior cabinet shell prior to foaming. The breaker strip holds the liner in spaced apart relation to the cabinet shell while the insulating material is inserted between them. Other forming supports are usually required to hold the plastic inner liner relative to the outer cabinet shell during the foaming operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,381 issued Nov. 29, 1994 to Sheldon Mandel shows a breaker strip used in a refrigerator to hold an inner plastic liner against the outer shell of the refrigerator cabinet without the requirement of additional supports or foam-in-place material. The breaker strip has a recess between two fingers for receiving the door liner and also a chamber for receiving a magnet. The breaker strip further includes a pair of spaced apart legs made of a resilient material which can extend into the exterior cabinet shell and frictionally engage the cabinet shell so that the breaker strip is held in place without the use of foam-in-place material. While this patent teaches positively locating the breaker strip relative to the cabinet shell prior to foaming-in-place the insulation, it may be difficult to remove the liner during the assembly operation should the liner not perfectly fit into the shell or require slight modifications during construction. The problem with positively locating the breaker strip is that it cannot be easily removed for slight modifications.
While many types of breaker strips are known in the art and have various means to engage the inner liner in the exterior cabinet shell, these breaker strips typically including foaming the breaker strip to engage the flanges of the liner and the exterior cabinet. However, in many cases the securing of the liner, breaker strip and exterior cabinet wall does not become secure until such time as the foam-in-place material is inserted.
Accordingly, there is a need for a breaker strip which can provide temporary assembly of the inner liner relative to the exterior cabinet shell permitting modifications to the cabinet construction when necessary prior to foaming the cabinet in place.